Saudi Arabia, the world's largest importer of barley and a major food importer, said purchases of foodstuff fell 28 percent in April from a year earlier, while imports of building material increased. Imports amounted to 5.46 million tons in the month, with food and building materials accounting for almost half of the total, the Saudi Port Authority said on its website Sunday. Saudi Arabia, which imports most of the food to feed its population of 27 million people, bought 1.46 million metric tons in April compared with 2.03 million tons a year earlier. The Arab world's largest economy said food imports between January and April fell 23 percent from a year earlier to 4.83 million metric tons, according to the data. Imports of building and construction materials rose 8 percent to 1.2 million metric tons in April from a year earlier. Saudi Arabia plans to invest $400 million through 2014 to develop infrastructure and build four new cities. The country also announced in March that it plans to build half a million new units to provide housing for its citizens. In the four months through April, imports of building material jumped 21 percent to 4.66 million tons from the same period a year ago, the data showed. Meanwhile, the Kingdom reported a 20 percent growth in petrochemical shipments in April on higher demand from Asia. Companies including Saudi Basic Industries Corp., exported 2.66 million tons of petrochemicals in April compared with 2.21 million tons in the year-ago period, the Saudi Ports Authority said on its website Sunday. That is similar to the shipments in March and 6.4 percent higher than in February. Saudi Arabia shipped 9.97 million metric tons of petrochemicals from its ports from January through April compared with 9.07 million tons in the year-earlier period, according to the port authority.
